Repairs to I-95 interchange on hold after truck crash

(Sun Sentinel/Joe Cavaretta )

February 6, 2013|By Erika Pesantes and Mike Clary, Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE — Repairs to a 10-foot hole left in an Interstate 95 barrier wall after a truck smashed it Wednesday, killing a man, won't be made until fuel and hydraulic fluid that leaked from the truck are cleaned up, a state transportation official said.

The tri-level interchange at I-95 and State Road 84, which has a history of fatal crashes, claimed another life when the box truck failed to make the turn from I-95 north onto westbound 84, went through the barrier and dangled over the road. The crash tied up morning rush-hour traffic for hours, rained debris on the interstate and led to a precarious rescue operation involving paramedics, firefighters and heavy-duty tow wreckers.

The victim, pronounced dead at the scene, was a passenger in the truck being driven by Buenaventura Fernandez, 43, who was pulled from the cab during a rescue that shut down westbound lanes of S.R. 84. As of Wednesday night, the dead man had not been identified.

Fernandez escaped with a minor cut on the knee, according to officials at Broward Health Medical Center, where he was treated after the 5:30 a.m. crash.

Repairs to the wall, on the north side of westbound 84, were to begin Wednesday afternoon, but were postponed after inspectors from the state's Department of Environmental Protection discovered the fluids, which had leaked into a grassy area next to I-95, said Barbara Kelleher, a spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Transportation.

Sheets of plywood have been placed over the hole in the wall, and the spot is marked by traffic cones. All lanes on S.R. 84 remain open.

The interchange, with two flyovers, is an unusual configuration of ramps, signals, warning signs and concrete barriers. It has been the site of many mishaps since it was opened in 1990. The barrier walls are scarred with tire and paint marks.

In February 2008, three men in a Jaguar died when the driver failed to make the same westbound turn at the top of the ramp and the car flipped over the wall and plummeted to I-95.

In March 2012, a 23-year-old driver exiting on the southbound ramp from I-95 hit the wall and plunged to the road below. That man survived.

Following a rash of accidents at the same interchange about 10 years ago, the state put up signs alerting drivers to the traffic signal ahead and enlarged the green informational signs on both sides of the ramp and overhead at the top of the overpass.

New pavement markings also were installed.

In 2004 the state installed 50 lights on the southbound exit ramp in an effort to slow drivers as they approached the top of the ramp and prepared to turn. But the lights never worked properly during the two-year experiment, officials said. They no longer work.

All travel lanes of I-95 and S.R. 84 were reopened shortly after 11 a.m.

Before rescuers arrived, debris from the crash fell onto the northbound lanes of I-95 and damaged the windshield of a vehicle; the occupant was not injured, Fort Lauderdale Police Detective DeAnna Garcia said.

The driver of the truck had been exiting northbound I-95 and turning left to go west on S.R.84 when he apparently lost control and hit the wall, Garcia said.

"You have to go very slow" to safely make the turn, she said.

The truck careered into the barrier wall after first striking a low concrete curb in the middle of S.R. 84, said Sgt Mark Wysocky of the Florida Highway Patrol, who was on the scene to assist Fort Lauderdale police.

The truck's driver was rescued shortly before 6 a.m. when crews were able to get to the vehicle's cab, said Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue spokesman Matt Little.

The teetering truck was secured by cables to a heavy rescue vehicle to reduce chance that it would drop the approximately 50 feet onto I-95, Division Chief Bob Bacic said.

As a precaution, rescuers also wrapped a rope around Fernandez's body before a ladder truck beneath the overpass was elevated toward him. Bacic said the agency's tactical rescue team had trained for such "high angle rescues."

"As always, every moment you spend in the vehicle is another moment you risk a fall or a negative outcome," he said.

Firefighters climbed up, assessed Fernandez's injuries, grabbed him and secured him onto the tip of the ladder, he said. The ladder was then shifted from the truck and Fernandez was hoisted onto a stretcher on S.R. 84, Bacic said.

One firefighter was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries, said Bacic.

Garcia said that during the rescue the driver was "physically capable and mentally aware of what Fire-Rescue was trying to do for him."

A sign on the truck indicates it is owned by Tracy's Bakery in Palmetto Bay in south Miami-Dade County. One of the bakery's owners, John Garcia Jr., declined to comment about the Tampa-bound driver or delivery.

"It's still under investigation," he said. "We don't want it to affect anything under investigation."

Bakery owner Mary Rodriguez told a Miami television station that she watched the broadcast of the rescue of Fernandez, who she said was a relative. "It was horrible, it was a terrible moment for the family," Rodriguez told reporters.

She said she did not know why Fernandez had taken an indirect route to Tampa via I-95, nor did she know who the passenger was.